Tommy Prince

This week we have had many conversations around Indigenous Veterans Day (Nov. 8) and Remembrance Day (Nov. 11). We unpacked why citizens sign up to fight for their country, why countries enter into wars and some of the positive and negative stereotypes our society has of soldiers. We then learned about the contributions to the Canadian military from different groups of soldiers who, for a very long time, did not receive the recognition they deserved including our Indigenous veterans. We learned about the heroism displayed by Tommy Prince and the Cree Code Talkers who were instrumental in  helping  the Allies win the Second World War. Similarly, the contributions by Native American Code Talkers from the Choctaw nation were also crucial in helping to win the First World War. Learn more about them below!  As we take some time today to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by our veterans, we must also consider ways we can continue to support them once they have returned home.

Wishing all our families who celebrate a very Happy Diwali (de-vah-lee)! Today, we learned all about how Diwali is celebrated both in India and abroad. While there are several important parts that make up this popular celebration including lighting diyas, one of the special aspects of Diwali  is the creation of Rangolis. Rangoli is an art form that uses symmetry, geometric shapes, and vibrant colours to create intricate patterns. During the celebration of Diwali, Rangolis are used as a decoration drawn on the floor, typically at the entrances of homes, as they are thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the families that live there. While Rangoli is often created using coloured sand, we have created our own unique versions using various materials.

Hi Everyone,

We now have a class subscription to Epic! Books for kids. This will allow you to view different books online including picture books and novels! The link to the website is located on the right hand side of our blog under the Reading header. Our class code is zkj6065. Once you have logged in, please select your child’s name and then you can begin exploring the website!

Have fun reading! 🙂

October is the month for spooky science! We tried to see which substance (salt or baking soda or a combination of both!) would create the perfect mummy.  We discussed how ancient Egyptians would use natron to remove moisture from and preserve the bodies that we now find deep within the pyramids.  When creating our mummified apples, we had the option to wrap our apples in gauze to create a true mummy effect. We have been patiently waiting and making detailed observations for over three weeks to see how our apples have changed.

Recently, we discussed the importance of micro-organisms and more specifically the function of the fungus among us! We learned how mold is grown, which foods can still be safely consumed if mold is present and removed  (think harder/denser foods like cheese) and found out that certain molds can actually be helpful like the one that helped to create penicillin.  We conducted a mold growth experiment using pieces of bread. By rubbing the bread on different surfaces (mold spores are microscopic and can be found everywhere), we are testing to find out which surface has the most germs and may therefore produce the most mold!

Over the course of the past couple of months, our class has examined different stereotypes associated with gender and how these can negatively impact our self-image and the self-image of others. We will continue to discuss how these negative stereotypes can also be based off of our race, class, ethnicity, sexuality and religion. Halloween is a fantastic time to continue these conversations around choosing fun costumes while still being respectful toward all people.

Another important aspect of Halloween is collecting and eating candy!! As much fun as this is, I and few students in our class, have severe peanut and tree nut allergies. Due to the severity of these allergies, we are asking everyone to please refrain from bringing any food to the classroom that contains peanuts or tree nuts in the ingredient list. Food that “may contain” or are made in a factory/bakery/kitchen that has nuts is fine. ​​​We also encourage food free celebrations! Bubbles or a game for the class to share are fun and inclusive ways to celebrate in the classroom! ​We appreciate your openness and cooperation in keeping our students safe! 

As we continue learning about the different systems within the human body, we have now shifted from the digestive system to the skeletal system. We discussed the different types of bones found in our bodies and how they, along with our joints, help us to move around. We also unpacked the importance of x-rays and how they were first created. Then we created our own version of ‘x-rays’ using construction paper, vegetable oil, and crayons. What do you think?!

Did you know that one of the  first uses of the x-ray was to find bullets and broken bones during the Balkan War and the first person to discover x-rays was German physicist W.C. Roentgen?

Have a listen to the song below! It helped us to understand each of the names of the different bones that make up the skeletal system 🙂

Since we began in  September, a large part of our routine has been learning about our emotional wellbeing during Mindful Mornings. We have been using the Mood Meter, to help us identify and plot our emotions as well as the emotions of others on our chart to help us to better understand different strategies to calm and refocus our bodies. We also brainstormed different strategies others could use to also allow them to regulate. On Friday, we read Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing to learn more about the emotion disappointment and the strategies we can use to overcome the challenging situations that may arise when we are feeling this way. In the story Eisha, creates a symbol to represent her most joyful memory out of clay.  Our class also made symbols to showcase a joyful memory. See a few examples below created out of playdough!

” A memory that makes me feel joyful is finding different coloured leaves on the beaches with my family.”

” This is my snake. He always makes me feel happy when I am upset. We always have fun together.”

” My family and I go outside and we make snowmen together every winter. This is a memory that makes me joyful.”

In Science, we have been learning all about the human body! The first system we are exploring is the digestive system. Recently, we conducted an experiment to discover how food travels through our bodies. We recreated this process using bananas, crackers, orange juice, and water and used a plastic bag to mimic our stomachs. We then used some panty hose to act as our intestines. Needless to say it was a very messy process. Watch our video HERE to see how it went!

During Sci-Fri (Science Fridays) students learned all about different fruits and vegetables from around our world! We put on our scientist hats and used our expert observational skills to record and measure what our fruits and vegetables looked like on the outside.  We then predicted what  they would look like on the inside! Many of these fruits and vegetables are important to various cultures so we made sure to be respectful toward all of the foods we were not familiar with. Some food items included the mangosteen from tropical areas surrounding the Indian Ocean like Thailand and the mo qua from China. We did not get to try these fruits and veggies due to potential allergies but feel free to enjoy them at home or learn more about them through the video below!

Today we looked at and discussed the variety of 2-D world maps that we have seen. We analyzed the differences between the Mercator projection (pictured), the Robinson, Gall-Peters and more! After debating which map we felt was the most accurate, we watched a short video clip (see here!) to find out if we were correct. While we thought the Goode’s Homolosine projection was the most accurate map, since it looked like had the correct proportions and mimicked the 3-D shape of the globe, we realized that no 2-D map can truly be accurate. We discovered what challenging jobs cartographers have and the different methods they might use to re-create our globe on a flat surface. We tried to conduct our own experiment by attempting to remove the peel of an orange in one piece and then flattening it but this proved to be extremely difficult! Tomorrow, we will continue to discuss what biases we inherit when we only view maps that show a specific perspective.